Movie review, as promised

For once I'm going to write about what I promised to in the last post, which is a review of movies, the first of which is "Pride and Glory." It promises to deliver with such star power as Edward Norton, Colin Farrell and the great Jon Voight of "Midnight Cowboy" fame. Norton and Voight are good, but Farrell is somewhat of a letdown. All in all, though, it's a pretty good cop movie.

Next in line is "Zack and Miri Make a Porno." Though directed by Kevin Smith, who did what I thought was a memorable film, "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," it doesn't have the same charm. I wouldn't recommend it except for the rare few that like of bathroom humor and little else.

"Volver" (pronounced vol-VARE) I rented not realizing that it was a foreign film with subtitles. Had I known, I would've probably opted not to watch it, but I had just seen Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (more on that later), and I was primed for more of the Spanish experience. Starring Penelope Cruz, who is a wonderful young Spanish actress and a delight to watch, the movie focuses on three generations of women coming together. If you like foreign films, I would definitely recommend this one.

If you're not into westerns that much, but appreciate when one is well done, "Appaloosa" is a distillation of all that's good in westerns. Ed Harris wrote (an adaptation), directed and stars in his film together with Viggo Mortensen. They play two of the best guns for hire in the old West, and true to the genre they battle it out with the bad guys. Now I don't go out of my way to see a Western, but a friend told me this one was a classic, and after viewing it I have to agree.

Switching gears to a ridiculously funny comedy, we have Ben Stiller directing himself, Robert Downey, Jr. and Jack Black in what I consider one of Stiller's best films since "There's Something about Mary." Also in notable roles are Nick Nolte, Matthew McConaughey, and Tom Cruise, but Stiller and Downey really steal the show.

Now to "Vicky Cristina Barcelona:" Being a Woody Allen fan, I was thrown little bit by the film; it's not your average Woody Allen film. And if you speak Catalan, which is the native language of Barcelona, you'll likely be disappointed with the film as it does not adhere to reality in that respect. Rather Spanish is spoken in place of Catalan. But if you can get past that indiscretion in moviemaking, what ensues is a most interesting love affair between two young American women, who are vacationing in this most beautiful city of all Spain, and a Catalonian painter who seduces them both. The acting is impeccable as is the directing.

The next four are older films and as such I will try to be brief in my descriptions. The first is Sean Connery and a very young Christian Slater (he had to be in his teens) starring in "The Name of the Rose." I was disappointed, but if you don't mind a somewhat strong religious message, the acting is well done and the story is not horribly bad.

"Wild Strawberries" was Ingmar Bergman's first major film and received critical acclaim, but unless you are a student of film and/or a big fan of foreign films, I would skip this one.

"My Cousin Vinny" stars Joe Pesci and Marissa Torme (for which he received the Oscar for best supporting actress), and if you haven't seen it, I would recommend it highly.

"Don Juan DeMarco" is an early Johnny Depp movie in which he costars with Marlon Brando in a marvelously romantic comedy. Another must-see if you haven't already seen it.

On a musical note, "Simon and Garfunkel: Old Friends" is a fairly recent release, I believe, and if you are a fan of their music, this will be a treat.

Saving perhaps the most important film on my list is "Milk" for which Sean Penn won best actor at the Academy Awards this year. If you want to see a docudrama which chronicles perhaps the most important man in gay activism, it doesn't get any better than this. I didn't realize who Harvey Milk was and how he fit into my memory of the 70s until the end of the film, and then I remembered hearing of the San Francisco mayor being slain along with a gay politician the day it happened. And if you are homophobic, get over it.

If there are any films that you would like reviewed, please feel free to drop me a note. I may have already seen them, and if not I'm always interested in new films (or old) that I haven't yet seen.